Friday, January 17, 2014

(Today's pick for the month of Daily Phase One Recipes (as well as Phase One Fridays) is this favorite Split Pea Soup with Ham, Bay Leaves, Epazote, and Red Bell Pepper that's one of the soups I've been thinking about trying in the new electric pressure cooker I got for Christmas. You can see all the recipes from the month by clicking Daily Phase One Recipes. Check after the recipe for Phase One Flashbacks from this day in 2012 and 2013.)

I've been a long-time fan of split pea soup, but I always made it with carrots until I tried this experiment of replacing the carrots with sweet red bell peppers, for a split pea soup that's not only delicious and colorful but also a Phase One recipe for the South Beach Diet. Score! I used a fairly generous amount of ham and red bell peppers in proportion to the split peas, so you can have this for Phase One, even though split peas and lentils are a limited food. Of course if you're just craving split pea soup and don't care about Phase One, go ahead and make it with carrots if you prefer.

I'm guessing some of you have never heard of Epazote, a unique Mexican herb I add to my split pea and bean soups. Epazote (pronounced ep-ah-so-teh) adds an interesting subtle flavor to bean dishes (especially refried beans), but it's also used to reduce the intestinal gas that can be produced by beans. It grows wild in the U.S. and Mexico and has a slightly sweet flavor. (Some Epazote comes with a lot of woody stems, so when I first get a new batch, I put it into my food processor with the steel blade and process it to a fine powder.) If you don't have Epazote, you can get it at The Spice House or Penzeys, but you can certainly make this without it too.

Saute chopped onions in olive oil for a few minutes, just until they are starting to soften. (I was making half the recipe to test the addition of red bell peppers, so all these photos show half as much as the recipe makes.)

Then add the split peas, chicken or ham stock, bay leaves, and Epazote. If you have ham rinds, add them as well. (If you don't have rinds, you might want to add some ham flavor base, especially if you're not using ham stock.) Let this simmer for about an hour, or until the peas are quite soft. You may need to add water a few times while it's cooking.

When all the peas are softened and many are dissolved into the liquid, it will look like this. Remove the bay leaves and ham rinds (if using.) You can blend it with an immersion blender at this point if you want, but I didn't.

Then add the chopped ham and red bell peppers (or carrots) and let the soup simmer another 30-40 minutes, adding water if needed.

Here's how mine looked after it had simmered 40 minutes more (not especially photogenic, but very flavorful.)

At this point I decided to use my immersion blender and give this just a few buzzes to slightly break up the red peppers and ham. If you decide to do that, don't overdo it! Taste for seasoning and if you're like me, season with lots of fresh ground black pepper.

Split Pea Soup with Ham, Bay Leaves, Epazote, and Red Bell Pepper (or Carrots)(Makes about 6-8 servings, but this freezes very well so you may want to double the recipe)

Heat oil in large heavy soup pot, then add diced onion and saute about 3-4 minutes, just until onion is starting to soften. Add chicken stock, ham stock, or water with chicken base, bay leaves, split peas, and Epazote if using. (If ham rind is available, put it in with these ingredients. If not, you may wish to add 1-2 T ham flavor base.)

Cook at a low simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 1 hour or until most peas are losing their shape and combining with the liquid. (The length of cooking time will depend partly on the freshness of the dried split peas.) You may need to add water once or twice while this cooks.

A low-glycemic soup recipe like this would be approved for any phase of the South Beach Diet, but since split peas are a limited food for Phase One I would eat a small bowl of this with a big green salad or some type of Phase One vegetable on the side.

I chose the South Beach Diet to manage my weight partly so I wouldn't have to count calories, carbs, points, or fat grams, but if you want nutritional information for a recipe, I recommend entering the recipe into Calorie Count, which will calculate it for you.

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Posts may include links to my affiliate account at Amazon.com, and this blog earns a few cents on the dollar if readers purchase the items I recommend, so thanks for supporting my blog when you shop at Amazon!

Mae, I am sorry to report that I didn't take even one picture of the soup. About that kerosene smell that one of the internet sources reported, I think that must be the fresh plant. I think dried epazote has quite a pleasant smell.

Sailu, thanks for visiting. We are all learning a lot from each other aren't we? It's great.

LisaSD, yes, the split peas come dry, close to the dried beans. They are sold in small packages that contain about 2 cups and bigger packages that contains about 4 cups. There are also yellow ones, which I haven't ever cooked with.

I was going to suggest you start growing an epazote plant (not difficult, I'm told), but then I remembered what's currently happening with your outdoor herb garden! brr... (Major ingredient in black beans, too. Though the guy in my Latino grocery store snickered a little when I asked for some one time years ago. He probably thought I had a real problem.)

The use of epazote in split peasoup is so logical! I'm going tomake it soon, using leaves frommy monster bay tree. Then I willuse a sprig from a surviving epazote plant. I say "surviving"because my backyard would be COVERED by the thousands of germinating seeds if I didn't do a quick removal of seedlings. By theway, the S. Texas/Mexican way wepronounce it is eh-pah-SO-teh.Thanks for your great blog.- Mel

I didn't know that's what epazote does. I see fresh epazote at my local market all the time but had no idea what to do with it. I think I would just strip the leaves and chop them up instead of dealing with the stems though?

I am salivating for this soup today in our cold inversion temps in SLC. I love having recipe ingredients on hand (leftovers like ham and a packet of split peas). Putting it in my crockpot right now and going out to buy Epazote to add to it.Thanks, Kalyn.

ooo thanks for the heads up of using the epazote!! I live in North Dakota so we don't do much exotic up here, but in the interest of a well rounded spice/ herb stash, I DID order some from spicehouse, but have yet to use it. I have a pot of pea soup going in the crock pot (My own version) I'll add a dash to it and see what happens!! Thanks!!

Kalyn, just learned something new. The English word epazote. I know the German one and know that this herb is used with cooking peas and beans. I have actually never used it myself. As a big soup fan I should. Thanks, I will keep my eyes open for epazote. Great looking soup by the way!

I've made this several times and like it. I use carrots instead of red peppers. I use ham steak and a ham goya packet. I do not use Epizote. Sometimes I do a double batch and freeze it. Thanks so much for sharing Kalyn. :)

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